Method of making identification tags



Get. 12, 1948.

J. s. PECKER 2,451,355

METHOD OF MAKING IDENTIFICATION TAGS Filed Sept. 2, 1944 OR BOND MW fiagnlb ifeckel;

mm 11W Patented Oct. 12, 1948 UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE Mn'rnon or MAKING lIDEN'EiFICATIGN TAGS Joseph 5. Becker, Upper Darby, 9a., assigncr to Dennison Manufacturing "Company, Framingham, Mass a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 2, 1944,'Serial No. 552,467

(C1. Slit-91) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a shipping or identification tag or the like having two cords, strings or wires permanently secured to the tag, the cords, strings or wires extending beyond one end of the tag for -a suitable distance. in use, the tag may be readily connected to packages or articles by inserting one of the cords, strings or wires through some part of thepackage or article, and thereafter'tying or twisting the ends of the two cords, strings or wires "together. More particularly, the invention relates to the manner or process by which the two cords, strings or wires are secure'd't'othe tag 'andit'he resulting tag as an article :of manufacture.

The usual shipping *or identification tag comprises a piece of relatively stiff paper, cardboard, or the vlike,'.having a single aperture at one end thereof, the 'be'ing reinforced with annuli encircling the aperture on both faces of the tag, and twowires, strings for the like extending from the aperture so that the tag may be secured to-an object by twisting-or tying the ends of the strings or wires about an object.

The-present manner of securing wire or strings to'identification tags is to-insert one end of the string or'wire through the aperture within the tag and thereafter tie the "ends of "the strings or wires in'one torm or another,--or, if wire, twist thewire beyond the tag so that the wire will not pull loose therefrom. Heretofore it'has required considerable skill, either manually or'by complicated machinery, to thread the string or wire through the aperture of the tag and thereafter tie the string or twist the wire beyond the end of the tag to prevent itirom becoming loose. EEdiOULSwPl'OCfiSS to tie string or wire by -hand and therefore quite expensive. \Nhile machines are now in use for accomplishing this purpose, the machines are quite complicated and costly, thereby increasing the cost per tag unitas'wellas involving a considerable initial outlay of capital. The idifiicult-y of thus preparing identification tags in large numbers having string or wheattaohing means inexpensively will at once be apparent.

The present invention obviates the problems heretofore experienced of attaching string, cord or wire -to :the tags, yet by practicing the present invention, the strings or wires are secured to the tags ina secure and-satisfactory manner, and by a 'continuoustprocess, if -'des'ired,"the process being carried outweither by-hand or by machine. "By practicingthepresent invention, individual identification tags may be formed having attaching means secured thereto in a more expedient tie a slow and 2. manner and without the necessity of using complicated machinery.

The main object of this invention is to secure co-r-ds, strings or wires to identification tags wherein the former functions as a means for holding the tag to an object.

Another primary object is to provide a process wherein the necessity of tying or looping the strings or wires through the aperture within the tag by complicated machinery, or by hand, is eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to secure strings, cords or wires .to identification tags by a continuous process, if desired.

Still another object of the invention is to secure strings or wires to identification tags wherein the strings or wires extending from the tag may be of any desired length.

nnotherobject of the invention is to so secure the wire as to increase the area of the metal in contact with the edge of the hole to reduce the tendency to tear through the loop, therefore increasing thestrength of the tag where it-is important with or without the use of eyelet reinforcement.

Other and 'furtherobj ects of the invention will be obvious those skilled int-he art, a preierred embodiment of the invention being shown in the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, wherein I Figure l isa side view-showing an intermediate step'of the-methodof securing the strings or wires to identification tags;

Figure -2 "is a central longitudinal sectional view are 1 showing the wires or-strings in elevatien, and

Figure 3 is .a perspective view of a single tag aft 1' it has been formed by the invention forming the subject matter of this invention.

In the drawings, the reference numeral erally indicates the usual identification tag having anaperture M adjacent one end of the tag. The usual reinforcement ama-uh l? wise secured on both sides-0f the tag to reinforce the aperture 4 i, so that the string or wire will not tear or otherwise pull loose from the tag.

'Qne manner of practicing the invention is to i e the tag-s i ii iii-alias merit, shownin Figure vthelfirawings,.so thatthe apertures 5-! extend in substantially the same direction. Preferably,

Pen)

like as the attaching means for the tags, then one of the easiest procedures is to place a long wire, metallic ribbon, or the like, l3, on a suitable support, after which the tags ID. are placed over the wire or ribbon l3 so that the apertures H in the tags overlie the wire or ribbon. Thereafter, a long wire, ribbon, or the like, I4, is placed over the tags it so that the same overlies the apertures i i and the wire or ribbon 13. After the two wires or ribbons I3 and i 4 and the tags ID are positioned in such manner, the wires or ribbons are welded or otherwise fused together at a point where they overlie the apertures ll, asclearly illustrated in the drawings. The next step is to weld or fuse the wires or ribbons l3 and I4 together at a point beyond the ends of the tags, also as clearly shown in the drawings. It will be understood, of course, that the weld between the tags may be performed prior to the first mentioned welding, or the two welding operations may take place simultane- V ously.

After the" completion of the foregoing step or steps, the ribbons or wires and tags take the form as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. Thereafter the two wires or ribbons i3 and Hi are cut or severed at a point where they overlie the apertures i i, such point being below the weld within the aperture. The cut-off point is clearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. portion of the wires or ribbons i3 and I4 which overlie the intermediate tag as shown in Figure 1 becomes the attaching portion for the lowermost tag. For example, it can be assumed that the tag shown in Figure 3 is the lowermost tag shown in Figure 1, and that the wires or ribbons i3 and i l of the completed tag had previously extended on each side of the major portion of the intermediate tag shown in Figures 1 and 2.

v If it is desired to have cords, strings or other non-metallic elongated elements as the tag attaching means, the process is performed in a manner similar to that previously mentioned. However, instead of the welding operation, the cords or strings are secured together at the two points previously mentioned, i. e., at a point within the aperture of the tag and at a point just beyond the apertured end of the tag, by using a quickly setting glue, preferably a phenolic or resinous,

glue. If the glue or resinous bonding agent is of the thermo setting type, it is desirable to dry the glue quickly by applying heat. The heat may ing from applicants invention. For instance, it is not necessary to first place one wire or string on a support and thereafter position the tags in spaced relation over the first wire or string and then place the second wire or string on top of the tags. The tags may be positioned in any suitable manner and the two wires or strings may be positioned relative to the tag, one after another or simultaneously, so long as the two wires or strings extend over the apertures of the various tags.

The space between the top end of one tag and the bottom end of the next tag may, of course, be varied at will depending upon the desired length of the wires or strings extending from the individual tags. For instance, if'the shape'of Thus, a

'the tags were varied from that shown in the drawings so that their length is considerably longer, it would probably be desirable to lessen the space between the tags. Conversely, if the tags were considerably shorter'than those shown in the drawings it would probably be advisable 7 wires or strings will also be placed so as to overlie each side of the aperture in the tags and the aforementioned steps of welding, bonding, fusing or gluing and cutting or severing are subsequently performed.

There may be various other detailed waysof which the elongated elements are welded, fused,

bonded or glued together at a point within the aperture and a second point located elsewherey than within the aperture, so that the two elongated elements are securely fastened to the tag. Thereafter, the elongated elements must be severed at a point below the point of fusion or bonding within the aperture so as to form separateindividual tags.

The terms fuse, fusing, fusion," etc., mean generally to unite, blend or combine by the application of heat, to melt two elements, usually metals, to cause the metals to unite or run together. In this application, and particularly in the claims, the terms include not only this generally accepted meaning but also (for lack of a better term) the uniting or securing together by means of a bonding agent, glue, or the like, with or without heat. Also, the term wire as used in the claims includes any elongated metallic elements, such as flat ribbon, round wire or the like, regardless of the cross-sectional shape thereof.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the strand means, whether formed of cord, string or wire, has strand portions extending along opposite sides of each tag from the locationof the aperture to a location at the adjacent edge of the tag, the strand portions being integrally interconnected at both locations and at least one and preferably both of the interconnections being formed by fusing the two portions together after they are applied to the tag.

I claim:

1. In making tags of the type having an aperture and strand attaching means extending through the aperture with portions of strand extending along opposite sides of the tag from the location of the aperture to a location at the edge of the tag, the method which comprises holding said strand portions along opposite sides of the tag and fusing the two portions together at both of said locations.

2. In making tags of the type having an aperture and strand attaching means extending through the aperture with portions of strand extending along opposite sides "of the tag from the location of the aperture to a location at the edge of v the tag, the method which comprises aperture opposite said edge of the corresponding tag.

3. In making tags of the type having an aperture and strand attaching means extending through the aperture with portions of strand extending along opposite sides of the tag from the location of the aperture to a location at the edge of the tag, themethod which comprises holding two strands along opposite sides of a row of tags approximately in a plane intersecting said locations of each tag of the row, fusing the two strands together through each aperture and near each of said edges, and then severing each strand at the side of each aperture opposite said edge of the corresponding tag.

4. In making tags of the type having an aperture and strand-attaching means extending through the aperture with portions of strand extending along opposite sides of the tag from the location of the aperture to a location at the edge of the tag, the method which comprises holding separate strands along opposite sides of the tag respectively so that portions of said strands are juxtaposed at said aperture and fusing said juxtaposed portions together.

5. In making tags of the type having an aperture and strand-attaching means extending through the aperture with portions of strand extending along opposite sides of the tag from the location of the aperture to a location at the edge of the tag, the method which comprises holding separate strands along opposite sides of the tag respectively so that portions of said strands are juxtaposed at both said locations, fastening said juxtaposed portions together at said aperture and fusing said juxtaposed portions together beyond said edge.

JOSEPH S. PECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 370,425 Squier Sept. 27, 1887 663,355 McGill Dec. 4, 1900 971,804 Thompson Oct. 4, 1910 1,421,674 Colburn July 4, 1922 1,524,893 Thompson Feb. 3, 1925 1,961,991 Southwell June 5,1934 2,004,246 Kersham June 11, 1935 2,049,999 Flood Aug. 4, 1936 2,080,754 Wheeler May 18, 1937 2,126,840 Tevander Aug. 16, 1938 2,185,106 Krahl Dec. 26, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 62,000 Germany Apr. 25, 1892 256,529 Italy Jan. 2, 1928 283,760 Italy Mar. 21, 1931 711,964 France Sept. 22, 1931 

